Nigeria needs to part of the global green economy

Paul Thomas Arkwright, British High Commissioner to Nigeria

Statement attributable to Paul Thomas Arkwright, British High Commissioner to Nigeria:

I would like to thank the Nigeria Environmental Society (NES) for hosting this event and for inviting me to give a short goodwill address today.
My name is Paul Arkwright, and I am the British High Commissioner to Nigeria. I am going to share some thoughts on the theme of sustainable development and stakeholders’ participation in the green economy and how these relate to our environment.

Before I came to Nigeria, I was the UK’s Director for multilateral policy and so responsible for overseeing our input to and negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The agreement to the SDGs was a truly significant moment. Seven of those Goals are designed to support the protection of the environment and green economic growth. Failure to act to support these goals could lead to significant and dangerous effects globally, even the extinction of the human race.

I believe we can do more to support growth and innovation in a new global green economy. Nigeria needs to be part of that positive agenda, and the global green economy, weakening its dependence on oil and strengthening its green industry. I firmly believe this is an area where we should look to strengthen our bilateral collaboration. This requires us to be innovative and to support research that can help to improve social and environmental safety. The UK and Nigeria are well-placed to do this together.

But first let’s talk about the risks. According to the 2011 Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) published by the UK-based risk company Maplecroft, climate change could result in a loss in GDP in Nigeria of between 6% and 30% by 2050, worth an estimated 100 to 460 billion US dollars. According to reports commissioned by the UK’s Department for International Development, if no adaptation is implemented, between 2-11% of Nigeria’s GDP could potentially be lost by 2020.

In addition to the global climate risks, there are immediate local impacts of the carbon economy in Nigeria. The 2011 UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report outlining the findings of an independent and comprehensive study of oil pollution in Ogoniland in Nigeria concluded that there were high levels of pollution exposing local communities to contaminated groundwater and soil.

So I commend the President Buhari and the Honourable Minister for the launch of the clean-up of Ogoniland in June, and we are aware one billion dollars has been committed by international oil companies to this oil clean-up exercise. We hope and expect that these funds will boost employment and drive development among Ogoniland communities devastated by contamination from spills.

In the UK’s bid to ensure a safe and secure environment, our Department for International Development (DFID) runs a £14 million Facility for Oil Sector Transparency and Reform project to reduce the many incentives for misuse of power and capture of oil revenues in Nigeria. In part it also attempts to help address the environmental challenges in the Niger Delta.

Our UK minister for Africa, Mr. Tobias Elwood was in Nigeria recently and he visited Abuja and Port Harcourt. Minister Ellwood overflew part of the Niger Delta and saw first-hand the devastating environmental damage caused by decades of oil spills and the challenges of policing the riverine areas to prevent oil bunkering and illegal refineries.

 He and I visited a community in Ogale (Rivers state) that has been severely affected by oil spills caused in part by archaic pipeline infrastructure, and drew black and oil scented water from a well which, according to the UNEP 2011 report, held water containing 900 times the World Health Organisation level of benzene.

Our DFID funded FOSTER project has helped with establishing a strong foundation for support of the cleanup of Ogoniland by engaging with members of local communities drawn from four local Government areas in Ogoniland. Through this and other ways my team on the ground here in Nigeria is helping as we can, and I can assure you that the UK will continue to do so.

On the global stage, the UK is a strong supporter of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This is the main new multilateral fund for scaling up climate finance as a key new vehicle for implementing the Paris Agreement. It will help developing countries adapt to climate change and follow low-carbon development paths.

A significant percentage of that climate finance is flowing to Nigeria. As of September 2015, sixty two million UK pounds from the UK’s Global Environmental Fund and Clean Technology Fund had been put to projects in Nigeria to support adaptation and the wider fight against climate change.

In the UK, we have used a mixture of tax measures and policies relating to energy, transport and agriculture to promote green investment, backed by a legally binding carbon budget to drive our national low carbon transition. The UK has already reduced its emissions by more than a quarter since 1990. We are on track to reduce them by more than 50% by 2030. The PM has announced that the UK will sing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I’m delighted that the Agreement enters into force today.

And our message to companies in the UK and globally is that climate change is a threat and an opportunity: the “Green economy” in the UK was valued at £120 billion in 2014. This green economy represents amazing opportunities for Nigeria too. And I agree with the Honourable Minister that the private sector is key to this.
I want to reiterate that it is only through working together that we can make sure our environment is protected and improved for generations to come.

I spoke with the Honourable Minister for the Environment on this just a few days ago. We agreed that the challenges were huge, the opportunities also significant, and the only way to move ahead was through global partnership. I commend the work of the Nigeria Environmental Society and the many other strong voices within the NGO sector helping to support this, and I am delighted to learn of the close collaboration between the NES and relevant institutions in the UK.

Thank you and good luck to everyone with this work. I look forward to cooperating with you, and to hearing about the outcomes of this important conference.

Distributed by APO on behalf of United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office.